Course Details

What is this course?

Certified Lean Kanban Foundation – Practically Implement Successful Evolutionary Change is a highly interactive two-day course accredited by the Lean-Kanban University (LKU) and provides in-depth training in Kanban practices and the principles that underpin the Kanban method, including a fully immersive Kanban simulation. The Kanban method is an evolutionary approach to change and change management by starting with what you already do; respecting current roles; responsibilities and job titles; encouraging acts of leadership at all levels, and agreeing to pursue incremental, evolutionary change that evolves business processes using a Kaizen approach that reduces the risks associated with complex change programmes. Participants will gain sufficient knowledge about the Kanban Method and related topics to:

Lead or guide a team in their adoption of Kanban – from initial visualization and the design of Kanban systems through to evolutionary change

Answer questions and support the team in day-to-day operation

Help teams to identify and resolve hindrances to flow

Take measurements and create meaningful metrics that helps the team

Evolve process and practice according to team needs, in a meaningful way

Connect with the Kanban community for the sharing of practical experiences and the development of new ideas and techniques

What will you learn?

Based on the trainer’s practical experience, participants will learn how to:

Identify internal and external sources of dissatisfaction

Analyse demand vs capability

Model the knowledge discovery process

Design kanban systems and their visualisations

Identify/prioritise improvements

Choose cadences for activities

Identify classes of service

Create a rollout plan, negotiating strategy with stakeholders

What will you receive?

Two days of high quality instruction from Tom Reynolds who has over 25 years experience in software development. For courses on our public schedule, refreshments before and during the course, including lunch

Course materials

Membership of the Lean-Kanban University (LKU)

Lean-Kanban University (LKU) certificate of course completion

Fulfillment of the Kanban Management Professional 1 (KMP1) requirements

A free electronic copy of David Anderson’s “Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business” book

16 Scrum Education Units (SEU’s) can be claimed for this course and used as part of your Scrum Alliance Certified Scrum Professional application. See the CSP application process on The Scrum Alliance website for more details.

What topics are covered?

Kanban Introduction

What is Kanban?

Kanban with a big ‘K’ and little ‘k’

Kanban to Manage Change:

Kaizen

Kaikaku

Principles of the Kanban Method

Kanban Core Practices

When is Kanban Typically Used?

Identify Work Items:

Demand Analysis

Handling Large Work Items

Kanban Cards

Sizing Work Items

Value Streams

What is a Value Stream

Mapping the Knowledge Discovery Process through Value Stream Mapping

Kanban Boards

The Relationship between a Kanban Board and the Value Stream

Setting up and using a Kanban Board

Different Options for Kanban Boards

Queues and Buffers

Limit Work In Progress (WIP)

Queuing Theory – Little’s Law

Calculating Lead Time

Calculating Throughput

Calculating WIP

Calculating Release Time

Why Limit WIP

Techniques to Limit WIP

Where to Apply WIP Limits

Make Management Policies Explicit

Definition of ‘Done’

Classes of Service

Cost of Delay

Service Level Agreements

Measuring and Managing Flow

Cumulative Flow Diagrams in Relation to Kanban

How to Produce a Cumulative Flow Diagram

How to Measure Lead Time

How to Measure WIP

How to Measure Flow

Optimising Flow

How to use the Cumulative Flow Diagram to Identify Problems

Five Focusing Steps to Remove Bottlenecks

Interpreting a Control Chart

Interpreting a lead time distribution chart

Sources of Variability

Sources of dissatisfaction

The impact of variability

Techniques and strategies for removing variability

Empirical Feedback

Improvement Kata

Cadence and Rhythm

Daily Standups

Retrospectives

Operations Review

Apply your learning

Team-Based Realistic Simulation of a Kanban System in Practice

Kanban in your Organisation

The Context for Change

The Steps required to Build a Kanban system

Apply a Kanban System to your Organisation

Prepare a Roll-Out Plan for your Organisation

Who is this course suitable for?

This course is useful for anyone who wants to be successful using Kanban within their organisation, or anyone who works with teams utilising Kanban. As such, it will benefit anyone who is involved in using Kanban or considering using Kanban. It will be helpful both to those new to Kanban and those who have explored Kanban but now want to consolidate their knowledge in a practical setting. In terms of roles, the course is suitable for Product, Project and Programme Managers, Development Team Members (including but not limited to Architects, Designers, Developers, Testers), Business Analysts and Scrum Product Owners and ScrumMasters who want to enhance their Lean / Agile skillset. Attending the course as a full team offers a real opportunity for the entire team to experience and learn Kanban together and creates an excellent foundation for them to move forward.

Are there any prerequisites for this course?

There are no prerequisites for the course, however students are expected to complete the required pre-course reading.

How should you prepare for this course?

Approximately one week before the training a pre-course email will be issued that contains some short research tasks.

What about exams and certifications?

This course has been accredited by David J Anderson (creator of the Kanban method) and Lean-Kanban University (LKU). Students taking a LKU-accredited course will be eligible to become members of the Lean-Kanban University and will have met the requirements of the Kanban Management Professional 1 (KMP1) designation. To read about the benefits and learn more, visit the LKU website: http://leankanbanuniversity.com/. Certificates issued by the LKU for this course will show that the training was delivered by The Agile Mindset with Tom Reynolds as the trainer.